Integrating evidence-based practice and information literacy skills in teaching physical and occupational therapy students

Background: To ensure that physical and occupational therapy graduates develop evidence‐based practice (EBP) competencies, their academic training must promote EBP skills, such as posing a clinical question and retrieving relevant literature, and the information literacy skills needed to practice these EBP skills. Objective: This article describes the collaborative process and outcome of integrating EBP and information literacy early in a professional physical therapy and occupational therapy programme. Methods: The liaison librarian and a faculty member designed an instructional activity that included a lecture, workshop and assignment that integrated EBP skills and information literacy skills in the first year of the programme. The assignment was designed to assess students’ ability to conduct a search independently. Results: The lecture and workshop were successful in their objectives, as 101 of the 104 students received at least 8 out of 10 points on the search assignment. Conclusions: The teaching activities developed for the students in this course appear to have achieved the goal of teaching students the EBP research cycle so that they might begin to emulate it. The collaboration between the faculty member and the librarian was integral to the success of this endeavour. Future work will include the evaluation of students’ long‐term retention of information literacy objectives.     

Achieving change through mutual development: supported online learning and the evolving roles of health and information professionals

Introduction: Major changes in health care, within an information‐ and technology‐rich age, are impacting significantly on health professionals and upon their education and training. Health information professionals—in both the National Health Service (NHS) and higher education (HE) contexts—are consequently developing their roles, skills and partnerships to meet the needs of flexible education and training. This article explores one facet of this—supported online learning and its impact on role development. Methodology: A case study approach was taken, aiming to explore how academics, health information professionals and learning technologists are developing supported online learning to explicitly address the e‐literacy and information needs of health students within the context of NHS frameworks for education. This was contextualized by a literature review. Results: The case study explores and discusses three dynamics—(i) The use of supported online learning tools by future health‐care professionals throughout their professional training to ensure they have the appropriate e‐literacy skills; (ii) the use of supported online learning by current health professionals to enable them to adapt to the changing environment; (iii) the development of the health information professional, and particularly their role within multi‐disciplinary teams working with learning technologists and health professionals, to enable them to design and deliver supported online learning. Conclusions: The authors argue that, in this specific case study, health information professionals are key to the development of supported online learning. They are working successfully in collaboration and their roles are evolving to encompass learning and teaching activities in a wider context. There are consequently several lessons to be drawn in relation to professional education and role development.     

Will Web Search Engines Replace Bibliographic Databases in the Systematic Identification of Research?

The availability of web search engines offers opportunities in addition to those provided by bibliographic databases for identifying academic literature, but their usefulness for retrieving research is uncertain. A rigorous literature search was undertaken to investigate whether web search engines might replace bibliographic databases, using empirical research in health and social care as a case study. Eight databases and five web search engines were searched between 20 July and 6 August 2015. Sixteen unique studies which compared at least one database with at least one web search engine were examined, as well as drawing lessons from the authors’ own search process. Web search engines were limited in that the searcher cannot be certain that the principles of Boolean logic apply and they were more limited than bibliographic databases in their functions, such as exporting abstracts. Recommendations are made for improving the rigour and quality of reporting studies of academic literature searching.     

职业女性网络健康信息搜寻行为影响因素及社会支持的调节效应研究

[目的/意义] 研究职业女性网络健康信息搜寻行为，探明其影响因素，有助于健康信息平台为职业女性提供有针对性的信息服务，满足职业女性的健康信息需求。[方法/过程] 以压力应对理论和技术接受模型为理论基础，构建网络健康信息搜寻行为影响因素模型，考虑社会支持对压力作用的调节效应，以职业女性为研究对象，通过问卷调研和结构方程建模进行实证研究。[结果/结论] 研究结果显示，职业女性所面临的工作压力、家庭压力和生理压力会使女性产生焦虑情绪，从而促使她们进行网络健康信息的搜寻。同时，网络的有用性和易用性也决定了职业女性的网络健康信息搜寻行为。值得注意的是，我们发现社会支持不仅没有缓解各压力带来的影响，反而会加剧压力，尤其是生理压力的影响。     

Ｗeb检索与联机检索

介绍了部分专业检索人员对Ｗeb检索与联机检索的看法、以及一项善于联机与Ｗeb搜索引擎两者检索效果的对比笥研究，鉴于目前大量传统的收费情报可通过Ｗeb免费获取，作者着重讨论了如何在Ｗeb上免费检索各类传统情报，并指出Ｗeb免费检索传统情报对联机检索带来的冲击。     

The Use of Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) Software to Create a Database of Librarian-Mediated Literature Searches

Expert-mediated literature searching, a keystone service in biomedical librarianship, would benefit significantly from regular methodical review. This article describes the novel use of Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) software to create a database of literature searches conducted at a large academic health sciences library. An archive of paper search requests was entered into REDCap, and librarians now prospectively enter records for current searches. Having search data readily available allows librarians to reuse search strategies and track their workload. In aggregate, this data can help guide practice and determine priorities by identifying users’ needs, tracking librarian effort, and focusing librarians’ continuing education.     

信息查询与检索中的挫折研究综述

[目的/意义]梳理信息查询与检索领域挫折相关的研究现状,为挫折应对提供参考和借鉴。[方法/过程]从挫折内涵、信息查询挫折、信息检索挫折以及相关影响因素等角度分析国内外研究进展,归纳挫折成因。[结果/结论 ]已有文献结合问卷、访谈、实验、日志挖掘等多种研究方法,揭示了挫折产生原因以及用户、任务、信息结果与环境等因素对信息查询与检索挫折的影响。基于这些发现,从挫折理论模型构建、用户挫折感测量、信息素养教育以及信息服务提供等角度提出进一步研究建议。     

Interprofessional/multiprofessional health professions education: designing an efficient search to scope the literature of this exploding field

Background and objective: With the advent of an interprofessional approach to delivering health care in today's health care systems, should health care professionals be educated together? Supported by policy‐making circles worldwide, interprofessional education is accumulating a research literature at an exponential rate. Using one‐word search terms in the medline query box for scoping this body of literature, we obtained an unmanageable number of articles (342 338 in all fields). The objective of our study was to outline an efficient specific query. Methods: We created 1072 phrasal search terms consisting of a prefix, an adjective and a noun. Of those, 66 were prolific for the whole indexed period (1950–2006). Results: Only 2510 citations have the search term in all medline fields; of those 2049 were in title/abstract and 652 in title alone. From the 1950s, the citations were published at a slow rate, but the rate then exploded during the decade 1995 to 2006. The combination of prefixes ‘inter’ and ‘multi’ with the adjectives ‘professional’, ‘disciplinary’ and ‘shared’, and the nouns ‘education’, ‘learning’ and ‘training’ may retrieve almost all the relevant citations, while the terms ‘collaborative’ and ‘common’ may retrieve mainly irrelevant ones. The adjective ‘cohesive’ and nouns ‘practice’ and ‘role’ should be also considered. Conclusion: Phrasal search terms highly increased the relevance of medline ‐retrieved citations.     

Peer teaching and information retrieval: the role of the NICE Evidence search student champion scheme in enhancing students’ confidence

Background

This research reports on the NICE Evidence search (ES) student champion scheme (SCS) first five years of activity (2011–2016) in terms of its impact on health care undergraduate students’ information search skills and search confidence.

Objectives

A review of students’ evaluation of the scheme was carried out to chart the changes in attitude towards NICE Evidence search as an online health care information source and to monitor students’ approach to information seeking.

Methods

This study is based on the results of questionnaires distributed to students before and after attending a training session on NICE Evidence search delivered by their own peers. The exercise was implemented in health related universities in England over a period of five consecutive academic years.

Results

(i) Students’ search confidence improved considerably after the training; (ii) ES was perceived as being an increasingly useful resource of evidence based information for their studies; (iii) the training helped students develop discerning search skills and use evidence based information sources more consistently and critically.

Conclusions

The NICE SCS improves confidence in approaching information tasks amongst health care undergraduate students. Future developments could involve offering the training at the onset of a course of study and adopting online delivery formats to expand its geographical reach.     

Consumer health information seeking in social media: a literature review

Objective

The objective of this literature review was to summarise current research regarding how consumers seek health‐related information from social media. Primarily, we hope to reveal characteristics of existing studies investigating the health topics that consumers have discussed in social media, ascertaining the roles social media have played in consumers’ information‐seeking processes and discussing the potential benefits and concerns of accessing consumer health information in social media.

Methods

The Web of Science Core Collection database was searched for existing literature on consumer health information seeking in social media. The search returned 214 articles, of which 21 met the eligibility criteria following review of full‐text documents.

Conclusion

Between 2011 and 2016, twenty‐one studies published explored various topics related to consumer information seeking in social media. These ranged from online discussions on specific diseases (e.g. diabetes) to public health concerns (e.g. pesticide residues). Consumers’ information needs vary depending on the health issues of interest. Benefits of health seeking on social media, in addition to filling a need for health information, include the social and emotional support health consumers gain from peer‐to‐peer interactions. These benefits, however, are tempered by concerns of information quality and authority and lead to decreased consumer engagement.     

‘Letting them loose!’ A different approach to a biochemistry post‐exam training session

This feature looks at changing the format of a well‐established information skills session for first‐year biochemistry students at UCL, to improve its design, delivery and the overall learning experience for the students. After reviewing current literature, active learning methods were explored and an idea of a research‐based quiz based on famous scientists was devised. After a brief introduction to the library resources available, the students were ‘let loose’ to research their particular scientist and answer a series of questions. Feedback was gained and evaluated and concluded that the session was well received by students. The feature also raises the discussion of generic verses subject‐based information skills training. H.S.     

Teaching medical informatics a la carte: a curriculum for the professional palate

Health professionals as well as students vary greatly in their appetite for medical informatics and evidence-based medicine. The information professional is challenged by the need for instructional programs that support the use of medical informatics to a diverse audience. For teaching programs to be successfully received, the information professional must be able to offer an adaptable curriculum that can be arranged to meet the differing needs of a wide range of health professionals. The Educational Services Department at New York University Medical Center has designed and implemented a multidisciplinary curriculum that serves as a model for health and information professionals to meet a variety of goals and objectives. This paper describes how the curriculum evolved. It is presented as a menu of offerings that may be coordinated and adapted to meet the varying skills and needs of clinicians, basic scientists, residency training programs, medical student clerkships, and nursing and allied health programs. Informatics programs that may include workshops in basic computer skills, identification of information resources, the structure of information, developing search strategies in support of evidence-based medicine, identifying qualitative journal literature, and critical appraisal of the literature, are easily adapted to any audience and schedule.     

医疗保健信息的职业搜寻行为

医疗保健信息体量巨大、增长迅速,且用户需求多样,是医学信息资源和用户行为研究的热点领域。文章 采用文本分析等内容分析方法对1980—2015年的101篇主要相关研究文献进行梳理,论述医疗保健信息搜寻行为在需 求类型和寻求障碍的表现,并且发现搜寻者个人、情境、信息资源等因素对职业信息搜寻皆有影响,指出医疗保健信 息搜寻行为研究主要集中在基本情况的研究方面,而在改善信息质量、信息寻求困难问题方面研究不足,这将对于我 国医疗保健信息领域的理论研究维度和实践解决方案有所启示。     

全国20家医学情报研究机构内部科室设置现况调查分析

调查分析了全国20家医学情报研究机构的内部科室设置现状,表明期刊编辑出版、文献检索与科技查新、图书馆服务、信息技术服务仍是医学情报研究机构的重点业务工作。包括卫生管理与政策研究在内的医学情报研究工作正呈现强化发展之趋势,部分新业务工作机构开始出现在医学情报研究机构的科室设置序列中,但其未来发展如何有待进一步研究和探讨。     

Towards a probabilistic model for supporting collaborative information access

In information retrieval research, models and systems traditionally assume that a single person is querying and reviewing the results. However, several empirical studies of professional practice identified collaboration during IR as everyday work patterns in order to solve a shared information need and to benefit from the diverse expertise and experience of the team members. Moreover, most IR systems that are employed in professional work routines are designed for individual use and prototype collaborative systems are too limited to support use in todays work practice. To bridge this gap, this papers develops and formalizes a decision theoretic approach towards supporting a team of people that explicitly set out together to resolve a shared information need. We develop a formal cost model for collaborative IR that considers the trade-off between estimated relevance of a document as well as estimated document redundancy. From this cost model, we use a decision theoretic approach to derive the notion of activity suggestions, that is, a formal optimum criterion that describes optimum collaboration strategies in IR as the solution of an integer linear program. Those collaboration strategies are suggested to team members with the aim to facilitate the collaborative performance of information retrieval tasks. We demonstrate the application of our model by means of search result division in two collaborative search tasks. In the conducted experiments, we study the effects of different domain knowledge and resulting relevance assessments of team members in four different conditions. The gathered results indicate that our approach can improve the retrieval effectiveness of teams in recall-oriented tasks.     

Medical libraries, bioinformatics, and networked information: a coming convergence?

Libraries will be changed by technological and social developments that are fueled by information technology, bioinformatics, and networked information. Libraries in highly focused settings such as the health sciences are at a pivotal point in their development as the synthesis of historically diverse and independent information sources transforms health care institutions. Boundaries are breaking down between published literature and research data, between research databases and clinical patient data, and between consumer health information and professional literature. This paper focuses on the dynamics that are occurring with networked information sources and the roles that libraries will need to play in the world of medical informatics in the early twenty-first century.     

In‐house peer supported literature search training: a public health perspective

Public Health England plays a vital role in ensuring the health of the nation. The Knowledge and Library Service (KLS) is a key part of the organisation's evidence supply chain. KLS staff handle over 200 requests for literature searches per annum, and this number is increasing exponentially year on year. Searches are often complex and require specialist public health knowledge to complete effectively. Library staff who are new to the area of public health require support and training. In this article, Anh Tran, Knowledge and Evidence Specialist for Public Health England, discusses a peer supported literature search training course that has been developed in‐house for the benefit of new library staff, and to increase the Knowledge and Library Service's literature searching capacity at Public Health England. H. S.     

The decisions and processes involved in a systematic search strategy: a hierarchical framework

Objective:The decisions and processes that may compose a systematic search strategy have not been formally identified and categorized. This study aimed to (1) identify all decisions that could be made and processes that could be used in a systematic search strategy and (2) create a hierarchical framework of those decisions and processes.Methods:The literature was searched for documents or guides on conducting a literature search for a systematic review or other evidence synthesis. The decisions or processes for locating studies were extracted from eligible documents and categorized into a structured hierarchical framework. Feedback from experts was sought to revise the framework. The framework was revised iteratively and tested using recently published literature on systematic searching.Results:Guidance documents were identified from expert organizations and a search of the literature and Internet. Data were extracted from 74 eligible documents to form the initial framework. The framework was revised based on feedback from 9 search experts and further review and testing by the authors. The hierarchical framework consists of 119 decisions or processes sorted into 17 categories and arranged under 5 topics. These topics are “Skill of the searcher,” “Selecting information to identify,” “Searching the literature electronically,” “Other ways to identify studies,” and “Updating the systematic review.”Conclusions:The work identifies and classifies the decisions and processes used in systematic searching. Future work can now focus on assessing and prioritizing research on the best methods for successfully identifying all eligible studies for a systematic review.     

基于场景测试的高校学生网络信息搜索能力评价

本文构建出一个基于场景测试的学生网络信息搜索能力评价体系,包括了评价指标、评价标准和评价工具。文章采用该评价体系对高校学生进行测试,探讨了我国高校学生的网络信息搜索能力水平和相关特征,同时还考察了测试效果。最后指出该评价体系能够较好地定量测评学生网络信息资源搜索能力,对我国信息素养教育的发展起到重要的促进作用。     

学科馆员与专业教师深度合作的文检课教学探索

在分析当前文检课教学中存在问题的基础上,介绍学科馆员与教师合作进行课程改革的做法,具体包括课程内容、考核标准、教学方式、教学技巧和教学效果评估等,提出学科馆员与专业教师合作是改进文检课教学的一种有效方法。